This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Applications No. 2000-287382, filed Sep. 21, 2000; and No. 2001-081281, filed Mar. 21, 2001, the entire contents of both of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to a portable electronic apparatus generally known as an IC card, having a control element such as programmable nonvolatile memory or CPU, and incorporating an IC chip including means for data input and output from outside.
The IC card recently noticed in the field of electronic commerce (EC) mostly conforms to the standard protocol specified in ISO/IEC7816-3, and it is designed to exchange data with an external device by this standard protocol. In the case of standard protocol T=1 (block transmission system), there are, aside from an information block (I block) for data transmission, a receive ready block (R block) for noticing to the transmission side if the received text is abnormal, or requesting to send again the previously received text, and a supervisor block (S block) for requesting extension of processing time or extension of partner side transmission data length.
Concerning these transmission blocks, only basic points are described in the ISO/IEC7816-3, and plural processing means are described in a certain event, and the function is limited about error processing when building up a system using an IC card.
When developing a new IC card to be applied in an existing system being thus built up, a program conforming to such limited protocol function must be developed. Generally, an IC card follows a life cycle of card manufacture, issue and application (user environment), and it is sometimes necessary to modify or newly develop the apparatus for manufacturing and issuing the card in order to conform to the limited protocol.
It is hence an object of the invention to provide a portable electronic apparatus capable of executing selectively depending on the designation information by preparing plural choices in part of protocol processing.
The invention relates to a portable electronic apparatus comprising storing means for storing designation information for designating choices for proper processing in a storage region; input and output means connected to an external device, for inputting and outputting of data; processing means, having plural choices at least in part of a specified protocol, for processing the input and output data of the input and output means according to the specified protocol; and control means for selecting a proper one out of the plural choices of the processing means according to the designation information stored in the storage means and controlling to process communication with the external device by using the input and output means and the processing means according to the specified protocol including the selected choice.
In the invention, as described above, the protocol is determined by setting plural choices in part of a specified protocol, and setting designation information for selecting one from the choices, and selecting the choice for processing depending on the designation information. By processing communication with an external terminal device or the like according to the protocol, in the life cycle, for example, by distinguishing the manufacturing stage or issuing stage from the application stage, it is possible to transmit without displaying error information in the R block that cannot be handled in the terminal device in the application stage. It is thus possible to process communication by an appropriate protocol depending on the situation, so that a portable electronic apparatus capable of processing communication at high reliability can be presented.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter.